‘The Dark Tower’: Roland And Jake Raise Questions In New Movie Still

As per Bloody Disgusting, entertainment giant Yahoo! has just released an all-new still from the upcoming film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower as part of their summer preview to accompany one released months ago by Entertainment Weekly.

The Inquisitr noted in a report last week that fans of the Stephen King sci-fi Western epic have been freaking out over the production because, although it is set to release in a few weeks, hardly any of the film stills and news about the movie that were frequently released early on in production have been coming out for the past few months.

All those eagerly awaiting news or other developments about Tthe Dark Tower film finally have something to tide them over, though: two actual images from the film.

The first of the two stills, which was released by Entertainment Weekly last July, shows two of The Dark Tower’s main protagonists, Roland Deschain (here played by Idris Elba) and Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor), who is Roland’s child apprentice, sitting on one of New York City’s subway trains. They are both staring intently at something or someone off-screen, and Jake looks pretty frightened or surprised by whatever they are seeing.

Those who have been following the production of The Dark Tower movie know it is not going to recreate the books, acting instead as a sequel to Stephen King’s over 4,000-page saga. They will also know that, unlike the books, this iteration of The Dark Tower will take place partly in Jake’s home city of NYC.

Obviously, though, we do not know everything. What are Roland and Jake staring at? Even though Jake looks fairly alarmed by whatever it is, it does not seem to phase the subway car’s other passengers — the person sitting across the aisle, while admittedly wearing headphones, looks undisturbed. This seems to suggest that our two tower-hunters are seeing something no one else can, but what? Maybe they are traveling in todash space (a device fleshed out in the Dark Tower books) and are seeing visions. Maybe no one else can see Roland or Jake either.

All in all, this still from the movie raises more questions about the plot of The Dark Tower movie than it answers, which is just what a good marketing material should do.

The other still, released just hours ago, while brand new, is not as rich in terms of possible meaning. It depicts the same duo, Roland and Jake, striding through the streets of New York. While a new view of the two heroes is always welcome, the shot offers Dark Tower fans essentially nothing the producers have not shown from the movie before. We have already seen a photo of The Dark Tower movie’s take on New York City (which is actually the real NYC), and we have seen one of the two leads striding purposefully towards the camera like they are here. Been there, done that.

New image from The Dark Tower featuring Roland Deschain and Jake Chambers https://t.co/K6uBfUzzTG pic.twitter.com/90ZQgGSDtf

— Flickering Myth (@flickeringmyth) April 29, 2017

That being said, Stephen King fans are certainly not going to complain about this development. More than anything else, the release of the new Dark Tower still shows that Sony Pictures has not given up completely on the movie and decided to stop marketing it altogether.

Unfortunately, the contrast in quality between the first still, which does an excellent job as a marketing material, and the second still, which basically rehashes old concepts, suggests that Sony is getting lazier with The Dark Tower’s marketing.

And that’s not the only news that came out today showing that wheels are in motion for The Dark Tower production, either. According to Trailer Track, the trailer for The Dark Tower has finally been rated, indicating that it will be released in the coming week — most sources speculate it will be attached to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which comes out on May 5. The trailer will be two minutes and 32 seconds long.

What’s your take on these new stills? What could Roland and Jake be looking at in the one taken on the subway? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

[Featured Image by Fotograv/iStock]